7 Sep 2015

Manchester United's abject transfer business is a gift that just keeps on giving, and £58m signing Anthony Martial is the latest ridiculous transfer to incite widespread ridicule of Liverpool's biggest rivals.

Speaking to BeIN Sports last week, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger - who won the title with Monaco in 1987 - insisted:

"Monaco...sold [Anthony] Martial to Manchester United for €80m, I've heard. Martial scored 11 goals in the French championship - that sums it up well. Martial is a huge talent, but the investment is huge too".

In his column for Sunday World this week, Liverpool legend John Aldridge slammed the 'ridiculous' and 'desperate' Martial deal as a 'panic-buy', and further scathed:

"Even if the kid turns out to be a great player, there is no way United should have been paying that much to sign a 19-year-old who has barely been tested at the top level. The football world has gone completely mad".

Liverpool's performance in the transfer market is abject at the best of times (and I regularly highlight that on the site), but in recent years, Man United have overtaken Liverpool as the undoubted masters of wasting money:

* Luke Shaw: 18-year old defender, signed for a ludicrous fee of £30m.

* Radamel Falcao: Cost United £15.8m (Loan fee plus wages) for one poor season. The Colombian scored four goals, at a cost of £3.9m per goal.

Add Martial into the equation, and that's a gigantic £166.3m, the majority of which is a shocking waste of money.

To put this into perspective: Brendan Rodgers has spent approximately £300m (gross) on transfers, but Man United spent 55% of that total on FOUR players in just one year (two of whom are no longer at the club).

As a comparison, it's like Liverpool paying £166m for Gomez (Shaw); Lallana (Di Maria); Origi (Martial), and Lambert (Falcao). A few further points:

* Martial is he 5th most expensive transfer of all time, with only Neymar, Suarez, Ronaldo, and Bale costing more.

* Martial cost Monaco €5m in 2013, which means the French club will ultimately make a 1500% profit.

* Liverpool have that beat, though. The Reds paid £500k for Sterling back in 2010, and the £49m sale fee = 9700% profit.

* Taking out QPR's 20% sell-on fee, the total amount Liverpool will receive from the Sterling transfer is £39.2m, which is still a profit of 7700%.

Liverpool face Man United in ten days, and it'll be interesting to see how the game plays out. Both teams have been distinctly average over the last year, and it's a must-win encounter for both sides.

Will Martial - who is, according to France U21 boss Pierre Mankowski, an 'unstoppable striker' - make the difference?